Implantable medical devices are increasingly common. For example, many people now have implanted pacemakers, cardioverters, or other devices that monitor the user's heart function and automatically intervene when necessary to stimulate the heart to maintain a proper heart rhythm. Many modern implantable medical devices are externally programmable using a “programmer” that exchanges electromagnetic signals with the implanted device. The programmer may gather information stored in the implanted device, and may also be used by a physician to change operational parameters of the implanted device to tailor the operation of the device to the needs of the particular patient.
Typically, the programmer emits an electromagnetic signal that is detected by the implanted device. Upon recognizing the signal from the programmer, the device responds with its own electromagnetic signal, and the programmer and the device can thus establish two-way communication. For some devices, a constant magnetic field is used to signal the implanted device to communicate. There are a number of manufacturers of implantable medical devices. For example, there are currently five manufacturers of implantable cardiac pacemakers. Each manufacturer uses a different protocol for communicating with its device, and therefore a programmer from one manufacturer cannot be used to communicate with an implanted device from another manufacturer.
A commonly occurring problem arises when a patient having an implanted medical device such as a pacemaker arrives at an emergency room in need of emergency medical treatment. Proper treatment of the patient may require reprogramming the pacemaker. While it may be clear that the patient has an implanted pacemaker, the make and model of the pacemaker may not be readily apparent. Until the manufacturer of the device is identified, it is not known how to communicate with the pacemaker. Even if programmers for all makes of pacemakers are at hand, trying all of them in sequence takes valuable time and may not successfully identify the manufacturer. In this situation, the emergency room personnel often order a chest x-ray from which the pacemaker can be identified. However, this process also takes considerable time, and may delay treatment to the detriment of the patient.
In order to facilitate prompt and thorough patient treatment, implantable device manufacturers typically provide personnel who are on call near medical facilities to assist with any device-related issues. An emergency room physician may call a device manufacturer's representative to assist in treatment of a patient who has a pacemaker made by that manufacturer, for example to assist in any reprogramming of the device. In some cases, when a device is misidentified, the wrong manufacturer's representative is called, resulting in additional delay while the correct manufacturer's representative is called.
The cost of providing a network of on-call representatives is burdensome on the device manufacturers, and may deter manufacturers from entering new markets, especially markets having sparse populations.